Protesters outside the National Assembly shouted and clapped. “We won!” they chanted, and one demonstrator banged on a drum.
“There are opinions that it was too much to go to emergency martial law, and that we did not follow the procedures for emergency martial law, but it was done strictly within the constitutional framework,” a South Korean presidential official told Reuters by phone.
More protests are expected on Wednesday with South Korea’s largest union coalition, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, planning to hold a rally in Seoul and vowing to strike until Yoon resigns.
The US embassy urged US citizens in South Korea to avoid areas where protests were taking place, while some major employers including Naver Corp and LG Electronics Inc advised employees to work from home.
Financial markets were volatile with South Korean stocks falling around 2 per cent and the won steadying after plunging to a two-year low. Dealers reported suspected intervention by South Korean authorities to stem the won’s slide.
Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok and Bank of Korea Governor Rhee Chang-yong held emergency meetings overnight and the finance ministry promised to prop up markets if needed.
“We will inject unlimited liquidity into stocks, bonds, short-term money market as well as forex market for the time being until they are fully normalised,” the government said in a statement.
